An impressive cinematic debut by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Amores Perros, which translates roughly to Love's a Bitch, is harshly critical of love and human relationships. It is, at times, difficult to watch, and doesn't aspires to be uplifting.

In a three-part story that intertwines, love is presented in many incarnations. It only seems to survive when represented by a human/animal bond. In contrast, love between people tends to come across as tainted. From infidelity to abandonment of children, the situations presented are heartbreaking in cases where humans interact with each other.

The cinematography is particularly impressive. Polished shots with well-written character development are perfectly contrasted with gritty and jarring action sequences full of fast cuts.

The acting is also noteworthy, with each character truly living their role in a flawed, multi-dimensional and realistic way. I found myself able to empathize with almost all the characters against all odds. I was particularly moved by Gael García Bernal's performance, who has since become a favorite actor in his role in Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep.

Frankly, I thought this and a few other Academy Award Nominees in the Foreign Film category in 2001 were cheated when Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon won (that movie, despite its beauty, lacked substance and importance). Since then, other films directed by Iñárritu have gained considerable acclaim as well, including 21 Grams and Babel. Of these, I think Amores Perros still remains my favorite, although Babel comes quite close.

The title speaks for it all. Ya gotta know Spanish to understand the title!

Fast action. Intriguing cinematography. If you can stomach the dog fight scenes, it is well worth watching a few times.

Hard movie to watch but really fine. And Gael Garcia Bernal is an actor to watch!

Oh yes, Love IS a Bitch.

I don't know quite what to make of this movie. Amores Perros is really three separate movies loosely tied together under the motif of "Love is a Bitch." Each story features very different characters, and the only real common thread is that dogs play central roles in the lives of the movies' protagonists. There are some excellent action scenes (including some brutal dog fighting scenes), cool cinematography, and characters that were very well casted. However, something just didn't work for me. There was so much betrayal going on, between brothers, between lovers, between husbands and wives, and even between dog and owner that it was really hard to have a lot of sympathy for the characters. Also, the movie was pushing three hours - which in my opinion is way too long - especially as most cinemas which show foreign films are not the most comfortable places to see a movie. This movie was much grittier than what you would expect from a foreign film, and thankfully lacked a lot of the "magical realism" that us Americans can't seem to figure out. I think that there is a reason that my review is rambling a bit - this movie is just flat out hard to get a handle on. Overall, I would say that this is almost, but not quite, a good movie and worth a look if you can find a comfortable place to watch it.

For me this movie was really worth watching. Of course I have an advantage since I've lived a year in Chile & speak English fluently, but most parts was however hard to get because the Mexican slang was very commonly in this movie. Of that reason the text became essential to me, but unfortunately this is a quite "white" movie, so most of the time it was almost impossible to read the text. So as you see the pictures became the most important part of my experience. And I liked it! Not immediately, but after a while I got a huge sympathy for many of the characters, like the brother who was in love with his sister & the old guerillero who got a chance to see his daughter again & couldn't stop thinking of her. The movie had it's funny & touchy parts! Well worth watching! And I learned a new slang for 'money': In Chile we say 'plata' (silver), obviously in Mexico they say "lana" (wool). :-)

I am a sucka for hard, urban violence flicks (Clockwork Orange, Scar Face, Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, Traffic, Tesis, etc.). Thus, this one is definitely worth paying adult, full price to see once again in my book. Many would classify this piece as “Pulp Fiction-esque” yet ignoring the fact that the characters are not as self-righteous and confident as Senior Tarantino’s talented and expensive cast. Inarrit’s crew is 100% Chilango (people from Mexico City) and hated and loved by the rest of Mexico. These ambivalent feelings are manifested in their internal love/hate of self. People from Mexico City are the political, economic, and talent of the country (exemplified by having LA, New York and DC all in one major big city). 3 of Mexico’s social strata are pictured in this trilogy bonded by a car crash. In these chosen social strata, all heroes are deflated to the fullest extent: by showing their “not so instinctive” betrayal nature (oxymoron). This portrayed serves to be more vicious than the numerous dogs mutilating scenes. There is betrayal between man and women, man and daughter, and between brothers. There is no ideal man nor WOMAN so don’t hope to leave the theater identifying with someone, per se. Nevertheless, however implicit, there is an (un)certain sense of hope for these vicious heroes. Throughout the flick, there is an undying and un-denying sense of unconditional love between a few and very well thought-out relationships.